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By Richard Vaughan
\ninews.co.uk<\/p>\n
Boris Johnson must push ahead with\u00a0laws to crack down on social media platforms\u00a0<\/a>as a priority amid growing concerns over anti-vaccine disinformation and racism online, former Tory culture secretaries have warned.<\/p>\n The call comes as it emerged that thousands of boys are being drawn to so-called \u201cincel\u201d sites on the internet, which inspired the Plymouth gunman Jake Davison.<\/p>\n The long-awaited Online Safety Bill has been hit by a series of delays and has only been published in draft form, despite ongoing demands for tougher regulation of internet platforms.<\/p>\n Conservative Karen Bradley introduced the Government\u2019s internet safety strategy in 2017 during her tenure as culture secretary between 2016 and 2018.<\/p>\n She told\u00a0i<\/span><\/strong>: \u201cI hoped that by now we would have robust rules in place to deal with online harms and misinformation online.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting legislation in place really needs to be a priority for the government because until Parliament is able to debate these issues, regulators and users do not know the framework within which they can legally operate.\u201d<\/p>\n The draft bill\u00a0was published in May and outlined plans\u00a0<\/a>to give regulator Ofcom the power to fine social media firms and other tech companies it deemed to have failed in their duty of care to protect users online.<\/p>\n The Prime Minister has repeatedly insisted the powers contained within the legislation would help crackdown on the worrying rise of anti-vaccine disinformation, as well as the online racism seen in the aftermath of England\u2019s Euro 2020 final.<\/p>\n Baroness Morgan, who ran the Department for Culture, Media and Sport from 2019 to 2020, said the delays to the legislation were \u201cbaked in\u201d due mainly to the pandemic, but warned if the pre-legislation phase was rushed it may cause further hold-ups due to a greater number of amendments being tabled.<\/p>\n \u201cYes we need it sooner rather than later but we also need it to be workable and enforceable,\u201d she told\u00a0i<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Tory peer called on the Government to allow Ofcom to be allowed to start drawing up its codes of practice before the legislation is passed, which would give social media platforms a better understanding of how the regulatory landscape will function in the future, and force change sooner.<\/p>\n Several Conservative MPs have called on the Government to pass the new laws as quickly as possible to counteract the impact of social media, particularly on the young.<\/p>\n It emerged over the weekend that\u00a0Jake Davison, the gunman in Plymouth<\/a>, may have been radicalised by the \u201cincel\u201d subculture, which promotes women-hating ideology that is attracting more than half a million clicks a month.<\/p>\n Andy Burrows, Head of Child Safety Online Policy at the NSPCC, said: \u201cThe Online Safety Bill has already been three years in the making and given the ongoing harm children are facing it\u2019s hugely important there\u2019s no further delay in getting comprehensive regulation on the statute book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n![](\"https:\/\/ib.3lift.com\/static\/buttons\/edaa\/OBA_TRANS.png\"){kind=spacer}
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